Mary Lawson Williams

Born and raised in Morgantown, Mary Lawson Williams graduated from high school at 16 with honors, and from West Virginia University in 1946 with a BSChE. Major discrimination existed in those days against females in most professions. "I have been insulted by experts, ignored, passed over and thrown out of gatherings. On the other hand, I have dined with admirals and generals, National Academy scientists and engineers, plus 'Lady Bird,' ' Jackie O' and Jaques Cousteau. Persistence and diligence was my way of hanging in there. In addition, I had a little luck a few times by being in the right place at the right time. A number of 'highs' made it all worthwhile; times when I said to myself 'imagine I'm getting paid for this.'"

At age 15, Williams was a clerk in the Five and Ten at twenty cents an hour. Her last position as a civilian employee in the U.S. Coast Guard was as the highest ranking female employed at that time with the equivalent ranking of a commodore or a one star admiral, a position she held until retirement in 1984. Williams also taught at Brooklyn Polytechnic, worked in theoretical and experimental thermodynamics of rocket propulsion systems for the United State Naval Ordnance Test Station and the Douglas Aircraft Company and was the U.S. Department of Transportation representative and charter member of the Interagency Collaborative Group on Environmental Carcinogenesis. She also was the first female chief engineer.